


Maintenance

by neuroticphysiologist



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Conversations, Gen, TAG Secret Santa 2020, winter vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28500504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neuroticphysiologist/pseuds/neuroticphysiologist
Summary: With Brains busy with his project, Virgil volunteers to help John with the maintenance for Thunderbird 5.For TAG Secret Santa.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Maintenance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chidoriXblossom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidoriXblossom/gifts).



> My longest fic for Thunderbirds! I'm glad I was able to write about 2k words. It's rare for me to do it now.

Virgil came down to Brains' lab to see what's up.

"Hey, Brains."

"Hello, Virgil."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"N-none, I'm afraid. But when I get to w-work on the new Zero X, I'll call you."

"Okay, sure."

He looked around the lab. It was quite organized; files piled up and tools all placed on the desk. He stared at his calendar.

"Well, it seems like you have something important to do."

"Oh, this?" Brains was referring to his current task. "Y-yes, it's very important."

"No, I meant the annual maintenance for Thunderbird 5. It's on your calendar, Brains."

"Oh, d-dear," he checked his calendar. "I should be working with John by now. T-thank you for reminding me, Virgil."

But Brains said he's completely in focus with his project. If he leaves now, the invention would go critical.

He has been so busy since they found out about what happened to Jeff. He proceeded to work on the new Zero X, and he's also working on something to free the Mechanic from the Hood's control. The said second project is one of his most difficult tasks to do, and he’s still not done yet. He was making sure that the Mechanic won't get hurt. It took him several tries but he failed. But he always knew that he's almost there.

The new Zero X requires a lot of parts, but Brains and MAX cannot do it themselves. The rest of the family comes down to help from time to time. Virgil also serves his favorite brand of coffee to him; it's something to accompany him with his work.

But sometimes, poor Brains needs to have a break, but working on something scientific and logical keeps him going.

"M-MAX will be a great help for John, but I c-couldn't send him alone without my help."

Virgil is concerned about Brains, so he spoke up. "I'll do it. I'll head to Thunderbird 5 and help John with the maintenance."

Brains sighed. "Thank you, Virgil."

"But I think I'm gonna need the checklist for it."

"Of c-course. Hold on."

Virgil knew the spare parts Thunderbird 5 needs to maintain its functionality. He sends them via space elevator. But being there with John, he will encounter doing the annual maintenance for the first time.

Brains moved his chair to the drawers to find the folder. Unfortunately, he didn't have a soft copy for the checklist, but anyways, he passed the hard copy to Virgil. "John has an extra copy, so if you n-need to review the ch-checklist before proceeding to Thunderbird 5, you've g-got that."

"Thanks, Brains."

Virgil headed to the lounge to talk to John.

"What is it, Virgil?"

"Hey John, I'm coming up there to help you with the maintenance for Thunderbird 5."

"Thanks. Is Brains up for the job too?"

"No, that's why I volunteered to help you. He's been so busy lately."

"I see."

"Can I use the space elevator, John?"

"It's quite risky to use it, since my last mission with a rogue ship was a mess and it almost broke a few of the space elevator's minor parts."

"Brains was almost angry at you."

"Yeah," John nodded.

"You've been so impulsive at the time."

"I had no choice. Alan got his hands full and I'm the only one who can help. Well, speaking of Alan, you can wait for him to take you here. He's almost done."

"Sure. I'll just review the checklist Brains gave me."

"Take your time," John closed the call, and then proceeded to notify Alan.

"Oh, hey, John!"

"Virgil is planning to come up to Thunderbird 5 to help me with the maintenance."

"What about Brains?"

"He's busy at the moment. Virgil needs a pick up."

"FAB. Heading to Earth's orbit now."

Virgil heard Thunderbird 3's engines, and when it landed on the launch pad, he brought the checklist, geared up, and proceeded to join Alan. Thunderbird 3 launched again and docked to Thunderbird 5.

"Here we are, Virg. Wish you luck."

"What for?"

"Checking the external is probably the hardest of them all, but you'll get there."

"Thanks, Alan."

"No problem."

* * *

Virgil brought the folder and entered Thunderbird 5. He heard John talking to Alan through the comms.

"Unfortunately, Alan, we have a situation."

Alan's sigh was heard. "And what's that?"

"Satellite in uncontrollable spin," John explained the details. "But I'll know you'll finish it fast."

"Okay, John, Tell the crew I'm on my way."

When Virgil heard Thunderbird 3 leave the dock, he started floating to meet his brother.

"John? I have the... whoa!"

John went to the corridor to meet Virgil, who's currently seen floating upside down. "You got an extra copy from Brains."

"Yeah. There's a lot of work to do."

John grabbed his arm to get him right side up. "I hope you'll get used to it, Virgil."

"I'll get it, John. First time I've been here, I sent you half a dozen of chocolate cream bagels. I wanted to send it to you personally because I left an important note."

"From Virgil, with love?"

"Not only that."

"Yeah, I read the rest of it."

Virgil opened the folder for a brief review. "So, where do we start?"

"We're going for a spacewalk. We'll check the externals first before we head in here. Alan, EOS, and I repaired the space elevator yesterday and right now it still needs rechecking to see if it works perfectly."

"Alright then."

"Free float for a while, I'm almost done plugging the wires."

"I'll help you."

* * *

"By the way, Alan reminded me of checking the externals."

"Let me guess, difficult?" John glanced at his brother.

"That's what he said."

"Yes, it is, but today, we won't be long. I've started the maintenance two days ago, pretty early because we weren't so busy, so just in case, I proceeded right away. Brains and MAX helped me on the first day, then Alan and EOS on the next day."

Five is the biggest of all the Thunderbirds; it takes a long time to do the general maintenance, so it's checked annually. Some parts are checked if there are problems. It is made sure if all the systems are functioning properly.

John closed the control panel.

"We'll get back to the processors later. Let's go, Virgil?"

* * *

They hooked themselves near the airlock when they were outside. As Virgil observed, everything is almost complete. The solar panels are in the right place, the gravity ring is spinning normally. He remembered what he reviewed. Then he floated to the underside to check the hidden control panels. John was in the opposite side to check the maintenance hatch. They moved on to the next tasks when they switched places. It took them about an hour and a half. Then they were back together when they reached the space elevator.

"Hey, John," Virgil started conversing.

"What is it, Virgil?"

"I was thinking if we could go out in the snow this year. Gordon and Alan were asking me."

"I think so. I don't usually like going out in the snow, but if the whole family will agree, that's fine with me."

Virgil climbed up to see his brother. "I miss it, John. Last time we went out, it was like three Christmases ago."

"Yeah, I remember. Was it because Gordon and Alan miss having snowball fights?"

Virgil chuckled. "I guess so."

"That would be a great idea, Virgil."

They talked about their previous Christmases on Tracy Island. Decorating days were a mess. Those include wrapping someone with a tinsel, ribbons, or gift wrappers and tossing the Christmas balls and they end up being broken. The two youngest were the hosts of that. There's also the time when Virgil borrowed John's digital single lens camera and rainbow colored Christmas lights from the box for an experimental photo shoot. He asked Kayo to be the first model and it went perfectly.

Almost everyone helped Grandma when it comes to cooking. It was a good feast for the family. Exchange gifts were also present in the tradition, and singing a few Christmas songs.

Last time they went out for Christmas, they went to Switzerland. They stayed for four days and three nights in a hotel. They went snowboarding and built a snowman on the first day, skiing and snowball fights on the second day, and snowshoe hiking and getting warm inside the ski resort on the third day. It was the best.

In the ski resort, the family met a South Korean tour guide, who stayed in Switzerland for his job. He assisted them for the skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing equipment. He was happy seeing them enjoy themselves with snow sports, not to mention the bragging of the "maknae line", as he called it. When it comes to snowboarding, Mr. Scott the Showoff and Alan the Awesome at Agility were the coolest at that. There's also Kayo the Freestyle Skier. Gordon wanted to show his best too, but snow sports didn't like him so much.

Virgil was the best at making snow sculptures. He built around five unique ones. They would've been good for display, but a crazy antic from the tinies ruined one of the sculptures. They escaped from the big V with a sled.

John always kept warm in the chalet, along with Grandma and Brains, the two youngest were always up for a snowball fight, and Kayo was the lead at snowshoe hiking.

Virgil wished they could go out in the snow again, after reflecting about those memories.

"It's the 7th of December," he said. "We should plan it somehow."

"Let's hope that we're all gathered together this week to talk about it."

They were done checking the space elevator. They tested it when they went inside Thunderbird 5. It worked perfectly.

"All done," John noted. "Let's head to the processors."

The maintenance was almost done, but Virgil wanted to talk more with John. It's been a long time they haven't had pretty long conversations that were about outside the rescue business. He thought about what he wanted to say to him.

When they started checking, he stared at his little brother. He always wanted to tell him about his habits. John looked so tired. He looked paler, slimmer, and his bags under his eyes looked pretty obvious. He was on duty for six consecutive days with little hours to rest.

"How long did you rest your eyes, John?"

"Four hours. Why are you asking?"

"I'm sorry, John, it's just, look at you. Grandma is so gonna send you back to Tracy Island."

John sighed. Yeah, he's right. "I'm sorry, Virgil."

"We're not so busy after all. After the maintenance, we're going back to Earth together, alright?"

He just nodded in response.

It was like, ‘here we go again, now faced with the other smother hen of the Tracy brothers’. Virgil always had to be sure that his brothers are okay. He would simply ask with a pat on the shoulder. If one of his brothers is not in a good state, physically, he’ll take him to the bedroom (or to the infirmary if it’s serious) to give the best treatment. Emotionally, he would give a big hug. His hugs are the best.

He helped Alan with some lessons that confused him. He also helped a stressed out Scott to keep him calm. For Gordon, well, he has always been by his side. And John, he'll help him with his work, such as the repairs in Thunderbird 5.

But who takes care of Virgil when he's not okay?

At times, stubborn Virgil hides his pain. He also hides in his room to let out his sadness. When one of his brothers notices him, he would feel the same. They have returned the favor.

He remembered the time he faced one of the hardest decisions in his life. He was offered a scholarship from a prestigious university because of his remarkable musical talent. It's a great opportunity, but he was having second thoughts. He had International Rescue business to handle, and he had to take care of his family. It took him days to decide, until he finally chose to reject the scholarship offer. When he went back home, he had regrets. If he chose to accept the offer, his family will still support him, of course. He was stressing himself out even though he had made his choice. He was thinking that he did something wrong. He wouldn't have the opportunity back. He sat down next to the grand piano and nodded. When Scott came in to hug him, he couldn't help but cry. Then his brothers followed. It was hard to set aside the musical career he wished to pursue ever since he was little. It would've been a dedication to his mother. But it wouldn't upset her, right? If he rejected the offer just to help his family first?

Oh, man. Even today, it still hurts him. But he knows he'll get there. He'll achieve his dream of becoming a concert pianist someday.

The moment was all in his mind while replacing the CPUs. He slowed down his actions and John noticed him.

“Are you okay, Virgil?”

He went back in focus and again and quickly closed the board. “Oh, I’m fine, John. Nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure? Because you looked a bit upset.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Here you go again, Virgil. Earlier, you were concerned about me because I wasn’t taking care of myself. At least I was honest about why. And you, you’ve been hiding again.” He stopped his work to talk to his brother. “What was it that bothered you?”

Virgil sighed. “Remember the time I told Scott about the scholarship I declined?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Still hurts me, though.”

Yep, John had to get back home to see him. Seeing Scott comforting a sobbing Virgil who was having regrets about rejecting a wonderful offer that would help him in his musical career sure was painful to the heart. John always loved his big brother’s playing. He sits down and watches him play, and sometimes, he would accompany him with his trumpet. He rarely plays the instrument. He enjoys it more when Virgil is there to play with him.

John puts his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I was sad about that too, wondering why you did that. But I know you’ll get to it.”

“Thanks, bro. I always keep that in mind.”

* * *

“We’re all done here,” John picked up the tools. “Thank you, Virgil.”

“No problem. Remember, we’re going home together.”

“Of course. Let me have a word with EOS first.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Virgil continued picking up the tools used to repair the processors. Minutes later, John did a quick fix on EOS’ systems and now he’s ready to join his brother.

They rode on the space elevator and headed to their quarters to switch to their comfortable clothes. But John, he took a shower first. Later on, he headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat, a little more than his usual appetite while in space. Meanwhile, Virgil talked to Grandma about John staying at home for a few days. When International Rescue gets busy, then it’s time for John to get back to work.

John went back to his bedroom after having small talks with his brothers. He noticed that the bed sheets were changed and the comforter was placed neatly.

“Grandma changed that for you,” he heard Virgil.

“I’ll send her a personal thank you tomorrow,” John lied down and tucked himself in.

“I’ll turn off your alarm clock,” Virgil approached to the bedside table.

“Virgil, that’s already broken two months ago.”

Virgil checked the alarm clock. The second hand was missing and the battery was drained.

“I didn’t bother to fix it,” John explained.

“Your phone?”

“No alarm set in there.”

“Alright. It’s just that you need to get some sleep.”

Virgil walked to the door.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, for today.”

“Always happy to help, little brother. And… thank you too. We haven’t had a pretty long talk together, and it was nice to spend the time with you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Virgil turned off the light. “Good night, John.”

“Good night, Virgil.”


End file.
